Any value to these? Uncultured vintage possibly?

[mollyyy107]

Crazy back story to these. I worked at a gas station and one of my regulars was an older man that never failed to ask me if I had changed my mind yet and wanted to go with him to the casino. Hahahah. But one night he came in and gave me a little box of jewelry and told me that they belonged to a woman who had passed (I assumed maybe his wife? ) and shortly after he passed too. When he gave me the bracelet it was on a silk string with knots between each pearl and a fancy clasp but I didn't trust the string and let a friend restring them so I could wear them. I was told by someone that each pearl was worth $200 because they were uncultured salt water? Long shot but if anyone has any idea what these are/are worth I'd be super thankful!

 

[Pearl Dreams]

To me they look like baroque freshwater pearls from China. They are cultured, but instead of a bead inside to make them round, a bit of mantle tissue was used. If that is the case, they do not have a high value, other than sentimental.

Mind you if they are natural pearls they would be considerably more valuable, but you couldn't know that unless you sent them to GIA to be tested. The thing is...what is more likely, that a stranger gives you very valuable natural saltwater pearls or that he gives you inexpensive cultured freshwaters?

Do you have a photo of the clasp they came with? Does the clasp have any metal mark on it?